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What an amazing day, filled with loads of information, a chance to see the rest of this island so rich in history, beautiful weather and a guide who was so enthusiastic he was literally jumping in his shoes. Cleve is a Roatan Island resident from childhood, his daddy is Black English and mommy a Latino. Both are professionals, daddy being a lawyer and mummy an accountant, Cleve says he is the black sheep of the family who never studied.
The people who share this island came here in separate waves settling in different enclaves and they mostly still stay separate. The Latinos don't like the water because they can't swim and so have a town in the hills, Cleve was brought up in this community because his daddy asked his mommy (as he refers to them) where she wanted to live. This is a settlement of close houses set in the very steep hills, very much like other towns we have seen in the hills of Central America.
First was a visit to shop selling Honduras Rum and Rum Cake. Here we pretended to be pirates- Ho Ho Ho and a bottle of Rum! The view was stupendous. The others said that the rum was good and the cake to die for.
Onto to the main administrative centre: Cuxan Hole, named after a pirate. Here we were treated to an giant milkshake size container of freshly squeezed orange juice; the best on the island, and it certainly was really good, I enjoyed every last sip! The mayor of this town promised that it would be clean and safe and so he built a fence along the front of all the houses on the main road so it would look more beautiful. Every mayor after him has to paint this fence as soon as he is elected so it stays pretty. It is a different colour in front of each house which lends an individuality and does make it look great. People from all over the island have settled here so it is the only place with representatives from the other communities.
Lunch beckoned so we stopped at the famous Cal's Catina; I thought Cleve was saying Carl's Container! His accent was delightful, like the locals in "Death in Paradise" a series on Aussie TV.
I chose an appetiser of lobster tails and was served six of them! Melt in the mouth scrumptious, amazing for the price, under $20, and the view from this vantage point was awesome.
On our way to another village we passed where indigenous people from the Honduran coast, the Mesquites have a small settlement. The richest man on the island donated this land to them so they would have somewhere to live of their own, right next to the ocean they love.
Each community has their own state school that teaches how to read and write in Spanish. To learn English as well you need to go to a private school on the island.
We stopped by an orphanage because I had some small presents of pencils and notepads to give. A local priest had set it up for boys, there are 12 there at the moment, the oldest 18 years of age. Some had been there since 2 months old. They were shy at having so many foreigners descending on them, but the priest accepted the gift cordially.
Another community, the Garifuna also lives near the beach a bit further on, not hard on an island! They are descended from black slaves that mutinied and ended up being marooned on this island, they have retained their African language, music and dance. In times gone by a leader called Satuye had a conch shell that he would use to signal them when the Pirates were coming so they could hide, he is memorialised in a statue on the hill. Their houses are made of pise and mud brick. It was a laid back and happy community.
Over the other side we saw a community that lives on the water, Oak Ridge, or little Venice. Even the state School can only be reached by water. This used to be the rich end of the island in the 1970's when the fishing industry was at its height. They wouldn't share this wealth with the other communities, now they are the poorest community because they overfished so much there is a six month off season, and the on season isn't so great. What goes round comes round because the rest of the island won't bail them out. We went on a mangrove tunnel tour to see where they hid from.... You guessed it, the Pirates. Apparently these Pirates were not very nice people to be in the way of! Makes you shudder to imagine how it must have been.
Last place on the tour was Parrot Tree, a gated community of condominiums for the rich and famous. The CEO of the real estate group Century 21 has his house here and owns the property around, selling condos left right and centre. Shaggy stays here when he visits the island. Unfortunately it stuck me as an empty and soulless place. The mustang car looked good though!
We arrived back at our Sea grape Hotel after dark, full of wonders seen along with information given and stories regaled by Cleve. To use his words "there ain't no tan like Roatan!"
- comments
Bruce Ah local knowledge, cant beet it
Bruce Mmmm lobster is much nicer than crab , looks wonderfull
Bruce Now that's another postcard shot
Bruce Unfortunately there are still pirates in other parts of the world
Bruce Like crystal
Bruce Yeh just another Yankee muscle car
bevlangbein Yep, makes all the difference!
Pamela lyons Lobster and coke? Mm could think of something else to drink, like champagne, but I suppose things go better with coke.
bevlangbein The whole island was gorgeous!
bevlangbein Yes, but it had to transported from the U.S. To the island as well as the cost of buying it, crazy eh?